Crinoline Skirts

Crinoline Skirts in the fifties became narrower but the thickness of the flouncing prevented kept up the illusion that skirts were fuller. Eventually flounces became thinner with skirts becoming narrower. The signature tight-sleeves that came with 1840s fashion had been replaced with the wider pagoda sleeves. With puffing and frills came wider sleeves that made it difficult to drink or eat without your garments touching your plate of food. The most popular trimming of 1856 was fringe followed by the high demand for black lace in 1857. Puffs, lace and flounces all came to define mid-Victorian, women’s fashion. Women who wanted to dance without being bogged down wore transparent types of muslin called tulle and tarlatan which were simple skirts covered in flounces or were multiple skirts in one. With desires for comfort there also came trade-offs. In 1853, hoops made of whalebone formed the skeletal structure of a skirt, giving the dress an ample and fuller touch that would come to define crinoline skirts. These hoops were the progenitor of what became known as the crinoline, an inside skeletal frame that gave the skirt a bell-like appearance which is indicative of typical crinoline skirts. A metallic frame was introduced in 1856. A woman was known to wear a crinoline when her skirt swayed back and forth when walking or when sitting her skirt pushed forward. All classes adopted the crinoline skirts, including servants. It was practical for just about everything except riding so there were not many excuses for being without one. However, some women broke the rules and photo journalists depicted daring women indoors with no crinoline skirts.

Though it may seem cumbersome, many women welcomed crinoline skirts since it meant they did not have to wear heavy petticoats and the wearing of crinoline skirts was especially a godsend in the hot summer. Crinoline skirts also revealed the lower the ankles of women which naturally gave way to more fanciful and colored stockings. A good example would be striped stockings of various colors, often matching the petticoat. Though crinoline provided release in some areas, it was still a cumbersome device which placed a lady in grave danger. Though it sounds silly, high winds caused ladies to lose their balances and if they fell from a cliff, they could only hope the crinoline would act as a parachute. Crinoline hoops also became trapped in carriage wheels and in cases of fire, it was difficult to snuff out a fire with the crinoline hoop skirt, especially since materials such as tulle and muslin was highly flammable. The height of the crinoline craze was from 1859-1864. Two crinoline skirts were then needed— the bottle shaped hoops made for walking and the ordinary fuller version for evening wear.

Though the crinoline underwent some fluctuations in circumference, the goal was to always retain a slimmer lower frame; therefore, crinoline skirts were reduced from the front and back. Crinoline did not entirely vanish, but evolved into the bustle, a back frame of the dress that was used for lifting up the skirt to prevent the lower fabric from tearing or getting dirty. Through the seventies and eighties, expectations of women’s bodies became more unrealistic. There was more emphasis on the tightening of the dress along with the unrealistic standard of an ultra-thin bodice. Just as the crinoline came to define the mid-Victorian fashion era so would the corset that would place more far-fetched expectations on the womanly frame. See my Edwardian section on the evolution of the corset. Thanks for reading.

Sources: